(Closed) #3 is off the list! My proposal story (with ring pic)!

After 6 years and 3 months (not that I was counting), my boyfriend (fiance!) proposed to me in the exact spot where we shared our first kiss!

I was completely shocked and surprised – while we had talked about it for the last few years, I knew it was coming at some point but figured it would be a few more months away since he kept telling me he wouldn’t do it until we finished renovating our house. I had just come home from the gym, and was a bit exhausted, so when he asked me if I’d like to go to our favourite restaurant for dinner (which happened to be where we went on our first date) I happily agreed. As we left our house, he asked if I’d mind if we drive around a bit to look at houses and get ideas for paint colours. We do this every now and then, so I didn’t think anything of it when he drove over to the neighbourhood near the park where we had our first kiss. After driving around for awhile, he asked if I wanted to go walk around the park for awhile before dinner so we could watch the sunset. At this point, the thought crossed my mind that he might propose, but I really didn’t think he was going to, didn’t want to get my hopes up, so I agreed and told myself I would just enjoy the evening regardless of the feeling that this certainly wouldn’t be it.

We walked around the park for awhile – it was such a beautiful evening with the sunset visible through the trees. On our walk we talked about how we first came here about 6 years ago and how awesome our first date was. We eventually made it to the alcove looking over the city where we shared our first kiss. “Isn’t this where we had our first kiss?” … “I think so.” Apparently he thought someone was sitting on the bench in there so we walked around the perimeter one more time, making our way back. We stood and looked over the city with the beautiful sunset casting pink and purple shadows in the sky. “I love you.” And we kissed. Then he got down “I just have to tie my shoe.” The thought again crossed my mind, but I pushed it away. “Are you ready to go to dinner?” “Yeah.” Then he got positioned on one knee, held up the ring and said “Will you marry me first?”

Cue look of shock, totally stunned, and speechless. “What…..what is happening…OMG! (Holy crap it’s the ring! Say yes, don’t forget to say yes!) YES!!! … Are you *bleeping* serious???” Then cue about 5 minutes of ugly-cry bawling. We then went to dinner at the restaurant we went to on our first date (and got seated at the same table we were at on our first date). It took me until two days later to fully believe it actually had happened. I literally felt like I was in a dream and was going to wake up any second…

The best part of our story is that this whole time, I had gotten myself so worked up that it was never going to happen and that he was putting me on. I had decided to stop talking about engagement/rings/weddings the month before. I figured it would happen in the next few months and didn’t want to ruin the surprise since that’s something he really wanted. By not talking about it/bringing it up, I was finally able to let it go – to realize that a wedding is just a party, that the signing of papers is really just a formality to symbolize the importance and strength of our relationship. I finally truly got into the mindset of being so happy just to be with him, that we had been together for 6 years and have been through so much and how lucky we are to have that. On our walk in the park, I had this moment of realization that while it would be so awesome for him to propose there, it just didn’t matter anymore – I could fully enjoy this romantic walk with him and I was just so happy and grateful to have him in my life regardless of getting married. It was almost eery how it all worked out – the minute I let it go, it happened. I think emotionally I needed to get to this point in order to fullly appreciate and enjoy this stage of our relationship.

So, to all the waiting bees – I hope you, too, come to this point before it happens. If you trust him, and your relationship is solid otherwise, let him do his thing. I am so glad I didn’t ruin the proposal or feel like I forced him into it. Yes, we had our “come to Jesus” moments and I had my meltdowns, but once I knew he understood how important it was to me, I left the ball in his court so he could do it on his own. Also, we had many timelines that had come and gone – 4th, 5th, and 6th anniversaries were we tentatively had discussed it happening by the following year – I’m glad he didn’t do it on a day I was expecting it, and I think it’s pretty awesome that after all this time, the proposal itself was a complete surprise.

Here’s the ring! We picked it out 4 years ago….he started the process of getting it 3 months ago and had it for 2 weeks before he proposed.